Nottinghamshire Police has invested in two new lightweight and nimble drones, each with the ability to fly for longer and with stronger wind resistance.

The new Autel Evo II 640Ts are smaller 'back-packable' units that can be more easily carried on foot in difficult terrain and can be deployed more quickly.

With state-of -the art thermal imaging capabilities and powerful zoom cameras, these drones will offer even greater flexibility to officers on the ground.

The smaller drones' ultra high resolution 8K cameras, powerful spotlight, and live streaming capabilities will prove especially useful for monitoring, intelligence gathering and search and rescue operations.

PC Paul Henson at Nottinghamshire Police, said: "Since the team was launched in January 2020 it has played a direct role in saving the lives of several high-risk missing people.

"We have also opened up a wealth of new options for officers across the force, who now have much greater freedom to call for an extra eye in the sky giving them an additional capability and reassurance.

"In times gone by the only option we had to provide this was the police helicopter – which is an extremely expensive resource shared across the whole East Midlands region.

"These newest additions to our fleet can be airborne in minutes and also carried on foot to more challenging or remote search areas.

"As a result they will continue to revolutionise the way officers work on the ground – whilst providing excellent value for money for local residents."

The drones team, staffed by a rota of 16 highly-trained officers, is on call to respond to incidents across the county 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is also on-hand to carry out pre-planned deployments.

Police forces across the UK have been using a variety of platforms to give aerial views of people and events since the 1920s – from airships and fixed-wing aeroplanes to helicopters and drones.